Bob Williams, US Office
The National Hockey League has expanded its 20-year partnership with real-time scoring system provider SportsMEDIA Technology (SMT), which will now also become the league’s puck and player tracking partner.
The puck and player tracking technology is designed to aid the league’s broadcast partners by providing new and more accurate player data and stats.
It will also aid legalized betting on NHL games, with its ability to provide data for prop bets. The league’s sports betting deals with MGM Resorts International, FanDuel and William Hill were made in anticipation of the puck and player tracking data being introduced.
According to a press release, the technology “will have the ability to generate nearly one million three-dimensional coordinates and data points over the course of a regulation game and will enable the creation of new advanced metrics and statistics which will be presented via informative and compelling graphics and visualizations across a variety of NHL platforms and fan experiences.”
The NHL announced it will work with SMT to deploy puck and player tracking systems in all NHL arenas by the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Last month, the NHL dropped Jogmo World Corp as its primary technology partner in this initiative.
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